An Empirical Study On Backwadh Of CET4Reading Comprehension Test To College English Teachig And Learning

Backwash effect, which is also called impact, is regarded as one of the six quality standards of language testing. Backwash refers to the influence of testing on language teaching and learning which can be divided into positive backwash and negative backwash. Since1990s, many scholars at home and abroad have paid great attention to it in recent years. The empirical and theoretical studies on backwash have pushed forward the development of language testing and teaching. However, as one of the hot topics in the field of language testing, backwash study has been developed for no more than20years. The domestic study for backwash has been just getting started since2000s. As for CET4reading comprehension test, the number of its backwash empirical study is relatively scarce and incomplete.Since its first implementation in1987, CET4has gradually become the large-scale standardized test with authoritative and normal standards and is widely recognized in China, In recent years, scholars at home have done a lot of researches on CET4, however, there are few studies on the backwash of CET4reading comprehension test. Compared with students in the developed areas of China, college students in Ningxia have a relatively low proficiency in English. For teachers, English reading teaching on students in independent colleges is rather challenging. From the perspective of backwash, this thesis takes200students and15teachers of three different disciplines from school of Xinhua in Ningxia University as the research subjects, CET4reading comprehension tests, questionnaires and interviews as the research instruments, aiming to explore some effective ways to improve reading teaching on the basis of research results. Based on the above, this study takes example by the results of backwash studies at home and abroad, with the guidance of backwash theory proposed by Alderson&Wall, mainly exploring the following three questions:(1) How does CET4reading comprehension test affect reading teaching and learning in School of Xinhua in Ningxia University? (2) What are the positive backwash and negative backwash caused by CET4reading comprehension test in School of Xinhua in Ningxia University?(3) How to maximize the positive backwash and minimize the negative backwash for independent college in western China?First, the author conducted an experiment in which two natural classes of80students took part. One is designed as the experimental class (40students) and the other is designed as the control class (40students).The experimental class was given10-week CET4reading comprehension test training while the control class just conducting the traditional routine teaching. After the experiment, the data analysis shows that students in experimental class have made some progress and CET4reading comprehension test has produced positive backwash on students’ learning. Then the questionnaire and interview were conducted to the subjects relatively. The results of the questionnaire and interview indicate that CET4reading comprehension test has exerted backwash on English teaching and learning in School of Xinhua in Ningxia University. It has both positive backwash and negative backwash. In general, the positive backwash is superior to the negative backwash and the backwash on student is greater than on college English teachers. The backwash mainly lies in the following aspects:teaching attitude, objective, time allotment, contents and methods or learning attitude, objective, time allotment, contents and methods. In the end, some suggestions on the improvements of positive backwash for reading teaching and learning are put forward.